WHILST THE BUSINESS CULTURE of the merchants was shaped by the wider economic, social, and cultural milieu in which they functioned, Joshua Johnson's riposte in 1772 demonstrates that the long-term goal was to make a profit. As Isaac Wikoff noted two years later, ‘The Design of Trade is to make a profit in the End. I am sure I would have Quit a business immediately in which no Evident profit should arise.’ Johnson's reference to weighing the pistoles and the ‘Johannes’ or ‘Joe’ conjures a wonderful image of an avaricious merchant, but it also underscores the wider Atlantic context in which these merchants interacted with the Spanish and Portuguese, and indeed, other empires. This chapter therefore sets the wider context for this study. It first outlines the Atlantic world, and in particular, Britain's approach to the Atlantic economy viz-à-viz that of Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and France. It then outlines the institutional framework in which British merchants traded, and the major ports and commodities involved. Lastly, it outlines some of the major characters that appear in this book. Some of these men did not earn enough to wear out the elbows of their coats in counting their profits, but most did come into contact with pistoles at one time or another.

SPACE: THE EUROPEAN ATLANTIC ECONOMIES

THE ATLANTIC OCEAN is a huge expanse of water. The north Atlantic touches Britain, Spain, France and Portugal, the north west coast of Africa, and from Greenland, by Nova Scotia, down the eastern seaboard of the United States to the West Indies. The southern Atlantic stretches along western Africa, down the coast of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina to the Falkland Islands. Some would argue that the Atlantic world does not end there, so ensconced in Atlantic trade was the silver from Potosí (present-day Bolivia) for example. The Atlantic ocean itself encompasses 26 per cent of the world's surface – over 36,000,000 square miles – and its depth ranges from just over 4,000 metres to more than 10,000. Despite this vast expanse, it was already a space in which everything was on the move by the early-modern era, whether this was people, ideas or commodities. Vast numbers of people traversed this ocean, some by choice, many more by force.